Harry Belafonte, Geena Davis Among Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award Recipients

Musician Harry Belafonte and actor Geena Davis will be among the honourees at the third annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards being held Sept. 19 in Louisville, KY.

Ali's humanitarian awards are based on the 73 year-old social activist and former heavyweight boxing champion of the world's "six core principles" — confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality.

Belafonte, who was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is an Ambassador of Conscience for Amnesty International, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Davis, the actor behind films like Beetlejuice and The Fly and supporter of the Women's Sports Foundation, will receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award. Other people honoured will include Dr. Andrew Moore, a Kentucky-based plastic surgeon who works with the disadvantaged, and Rose Mapendo, who works to empower young girls in Phoenix, AZ.

Another major component of the awards involves saluting the efforts of young humanitarians.

These six award winners for 2015 include 24 year-old Kyla LaPointe, a children's rights advocate and force for the New Brunswick Youth In Care Network, 14 year-old Hadiqa Bashir who fights against forced child marriages in Pakistan, Christopher Ategeka, 31 whose Rides For Lives program addresses health inequity in Uganda by using mobile hospital units, Veronika Scott, 26, whose Empowerment Plan hires homeless women to create clothing for other homeless people, Sasha Fisher, 26, a co-founder of Spark MicroGrants, an organization that supports development in remote East African communities, and 28 year-old Tanyella Evans, the co-founder of Library For All, a organization that makes educational literature available digitally in the developing world.

The award gala will be hosted by four-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Janet Evans. Past high-profile Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award winners include Susan Sarandon, Common, Jim Brown, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Tickets are available for $500 and $1000 (VIP).